Needle loom



Aug. 7, 1951' G. w. c; CHAPMAN 2,563,579

NEEDLE LOOM Filed Aug. 4, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 1 EWELhgprEan INVENTDR 5flfi /fiwj, ATTEENEY Aug. 7, 1951 G. w. c. CHAPMAN 2,563,579

' NEEDLE LOOM Filed Aug. 4, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ELWE. Chapman ATTURNEYG. W. C. CHAPMAN NEEDLE LOOM Aug. 7, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 4,1947 EWE. Chapman Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14Claims.

This invention relates to looms of the type in whicha needleorreciprocating arm carries the weft thread into the warp in the form.of a loop, the bight of which is-heldby a shuttle thread at the oppositeside of the warp from that at which the arm or needle enters.

The primary object t thisinvention is to provide a high speed needleloom. in which two weft thread carriers supplied. from separate sourcesand operating from opposite sides of the warp cooperate to weave atubular fabric.

A fuither'object of" the invention is to provide a needle loom inwhichweft thread carriers on opposite sides of a warp may be adjusted toweave a tubular fabric and in which the mechanism in: another adjustmentof the weft thread carriers may weave two separate flat widths offabric.

Other objects and. advantages of the invention will appear in connectionwith the description of a preferred form of the inventionselected forillustration.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the loom; Fig. 2 is aplan View; Fig. 3' is an end elevation of the loom as seen from theright in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing theneedles in their most advanced positions; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic planview of a; portion of a flat web produced by the loom; Fig. 6' is afragmentary plan view of a portion of a tubular web produced by theloom; Fig. '7 is a side view of a shuttle; Fig. 8 is a front elevationof a shuttle; Fig. 9' is a fragmentary longitudinal section at the fellof the fabric showing the relation of the warp: and weft threads in theupper and lower shedsof a tubular fabric; Fig. 10 is a side elevation ofa cam. actuating. the-needle carriage; Fig. 1-1 is a side elevation of;onecam of the two: that operate the lathe; and Fig. 12 is a sideelevation of one of the cams that cause the crank lever having. itsotherarm-'1. connected. by

Each of these. levers, is connected. at its.

a link 8 with a lever B on a. shaft l0 pivoted on the frame of themachine. The bell crank is pivoted at H.

Each lever B is slotted to receive a cross pin [2: of an H -shaped slidel3 movable along fixed guide rods l4. Each slide carries a box 15 havinga vertical guideway for a bar 16 on a table I? which has a rearextension passing through a slot l8 in the lift plate I S whichthussupportsthe table. A pivot 22 on each table I! carries the rear end of aneedle 23 which has a guide stud 24 engaging a slot 25 in a bracket 26on the front of the lift plate IS. The needle, preferably made of alight alloy, is bent forward near its front end and has a passage 21formed through the bent portion from front to back. Along the rear edgeof the needle, a. groove 28 with a rounded bottom extends several inchesback from the passage 21. Diagonally across this groove, lies a smallpiece of metal, either flat or round, made fast on top of the needle andhaving its rear end free and pointing toward the back end ofthe needle.thread to be inserted beneath the free end into the groove and preventsthread from accidentally looping over the end of the needle. The thread29 comes to the needle through an opening 30 formed in the lift plateI9. Along thetop of each plate [9, there-are thre upstanding pairs ofears 3| to which'are pivoted the lower ends of rods 32. Each of theserods is carried by the frontend' of an arm- 33 on a rockshaft 34 whichhas an arm 35 extending to the rear and pivoted to a vertical link 36-,which in turn, is pivoted: at its lower end to a lever 31'. This lever37 has a roller engaging in a slot formed in the face of a cam 38. shownin Fig. 3, the slot having twodwellsto hold the plate l9 alternately atthe top and at the bottom of its path of movement. Each plate hasendflanges 23 guided in vertical channels 21. guide rods M= lieparallelwith the plates andthe rearward extensions of the tables llremain in the slots l S in the platesduring the entire travel of theslides up and downas lifted by the cams 38, and during the entirelongitudinal travel of the needles as moved backward and forward by" thecams 2 in both the upper. and. lower positions This detent is spaced topermit the.

As shown in Fig. 2, the mechanisms so far described are arranged induplicate groups on opposite sides of a central space, the width ofwhich will correspond with that of the fabric being woven. Within thisspace, the warp threads are held tranversely of the loom, in fourgroups, two of which form an upper shed and the other two form a lowershed, as best seen diagrammatically in Fig. 3 and on a larger scale inthe section in Fig. 9.. The lower threads 39 of the upper shed and theupper threads 40 of the lower shed lie substantially horizontal andclose to each other. The upper threads 4| of the upper shed and thelower threads 42 of the lower shed are on a slant, upwardly anddownwardly respectively, from the fells of the fabric through the reed43.

The harnesses controlling the weft threads to move the two groups ineach of the upper and the lower sheds alternately in reverse directionsto form, in each extreme position, a shed, have not been illustrated,but it will be understood that when the reversal of positions occurs,the upper threads 4| will be lowered to the lower horizontal positionpreviously occupied by 39 and the threads 39 will have been lifted tothe upper slanting position previously occupied by 4!. At the same time,the threads 40 will move down to the lower positionof 42 and the threads42 will be raised to the horizontal position of 4!]. The two shedsremain independent and the adjacent threads are substantially parallelin both open positions of the sheds.

As seen in Fig. l, the lift plate [9 and the needle 23 at the right isin the lowermost position with the front end of the needle opposite thelower open shed, while the needle 23 and its lift bar l9 at the left isin the uppermost position with the front end of the needle opposite theopen end of the upper shed. When the needles are moved forwardsimultaneously, into and through the sheds from opposite sides, and theslides 13 approach the ends of their travel, the studs 24 encountercurved end portions 44 of the slots 25 and swing both needles on theirpivots 22 laterally of their axes, so that the free ends of the needlesmove sidewise to the positions shown in Fig. 4 with the loops of theweft threads completely through the sheds and with the bights of theloops a slight distance beyond the outermost warp threads on both sidesof the warp.

Closely adjacent to each side of the fabric being woven, is a shuttleguide or bar made in two sections, an upper piece 45 and a lower piece46, secured together by U-shaped connectors 41 on opposite sides of thepieces with a space left open at 48 between the adjacent ends to permiteasy passage of the thread 29 carried by the needle. As shown in Fig. 3,the adjacent ends of the pieces are beveled or cut away to leave roomfor the ends of the needles to swing forward until the thread extends infront of the opening 48.

Above and below the space, guide strips 49 are arranged to engageopposite edges of a shuttle 50, shown on a larger scale in Figs. '7 and8, the flat face of which slides along the outer surface of the pieces45 and 46 from a position above the space 48 to a position below it, orvice versa.

When the needles have reached the positions shown in Fig. 4, theshuttles are caused to slide up or down as the case may be, behind thebight portion of the thread that has passed through the space 48 and isheld outward by the curved front end of the needle.

Each shuttle has formed in its outer curved. surface near each end, adepression or socket t these studs being moved by links 54 or 55 carriedby levers 56 or 51 actuated by cams 58, shown in side elevation in Fig.12. During this period in which the shuttles are being moved through thebights, the cams 2 act to hold the needles in their advanced positionwith the rollers 3 in one of the two outermost of the four dwells of thecam grooves.

After the shuttle thread has been passed through the bight of the loopbetween the needle 23 and the shuttle bar, the needles are withdrawn totheir original position outside of the sheds leaving a double pick oftwo weft threads in the open warp shed. The shuttle thread that has beenpassed through the bight acts to retain the end of the loop of thedouble pick just beyond the outermost warp thread on the side of theshed opposite that at which the needle enters. The cam38 .then acts tolift the right hand plate I9 and lower the left hand plate. The righthand needle will then be oppostie the upper shed and the left handneedle opposite the lower shed. Each needle thus supplies alternatingpairs of weft threads for both the upper and lower sheds.

The rockshaft 34 on each side has an arm 59 connected by a link 60 to abell crank lever 6| which is connected by a vertical rod 62 with the topof the adjacent shuttle bar to raise and lower each bar into properposition to receive the needle on its next run.

Upon each shaft I0 is an arm 63 having a rod 54 pivoted thereto at itslower end, the upper end of each rod being pivoted near the upper end ofthe frame to an arm 65 of a rockshaft -66 on which is secured a long,downwardly extending arm 61. The lower ends of these arms are at aboutthe height of the central portion of the needle lift plates I9. Thethreads 29 on each side, pass through openings 68 near the lower end ofarm 61 and thence through. the opening 30 of the adjacent lift plate.

With the linkage shown, it will be evident that as the needles moveforward into the sheds, the corresponding arms 6'! will swing in thesame direction giving out filling thread and when the needles withdrawfrom the sheds, the arms will swing back to take up the slack.

A rockshaft 69 mounted in bearings 10 has at its forward end a crank armH for engagement within a slot 12 formed in the upper end of a rod 73,the lower end of which is pivoted to the lever 4 that actuates theneedle slide I3. Near the rear end of each rcckshaft is secured a clampmember 14 which swings toward and away from a stationary clamp member 15as the rockshaft is turned on its bearings. Near its center, the shaftis bent to form a crank 16 engaged by a coiled spring 71 which acts tohold the rockshaft on one side or the other of a dead center, with theclamp either open or shut. In the upper end of the slot 12, is anadjustable set screw 18 with a lock nut 19 to maintain the desiredadjustment.

The adjacent faces of the clamp members 14 and 15 are covered withsuitable pads, such as a woolen cloth, to hold without injury eachthread 29 guided between the clamp members by guides on their way fromthe cops 8| to the holes in the arms 51 and on through the openings 30to the needles.

The arrangement just described provides a means for causing the clamp toclose as the lever 4 nears the lowermost limit of its downward movement.The needles at that time are approaching the ends of their forwardtravel into the" sheds, and the set screw can be" adjusted to come'intocontact withthe arm H to swing the rockshaft in its bearings so that thespring 11 will close theclamp member 14 on the tread at the preciseinstantto bring the desired tension on the weft thread just beinginserted into the shed as it comes to the end of its travel in posi tionfor the shuttle thread. Upward movement of the lever 4 and rod 13causing the lower end of the slot 12 to comeinto contact with the arm Has the needle slide nears to the rear out of the way during the travelof the needles and having two outward projections of the cam slot eachto move the levers'to causethe reed to make a rapid forward strokefollowed by an immediate return.

The sectional view shown in Fig. 9 is primarily intended to show therelative positions of the warpthreads of the upper and lower sheds afterthe reed has driven the double picks left by the right hand and lefthand needles into the fell close to the preceding weft threads and afterthe warp threads have been reversed ready toreceivethe next weftthreads.

Assuming that the uppermost pair of weft threads to the right in Fig. 9,designatedas 29R have been laid by the needle at the right inFig's; 1'and 2, then the pair of threads 29L just below will have been laidsimultaneously by the needle at the left, and since the needlesalternate in their travel between the upper and lower sheds, thesuccessive pairs of weft threads through each shed will also alternatelongitudinally of the fabric as indicated bythe corresponding numerals,all those designated'by 29R having been laid by the right hand needleand all the others by the left hand needle. The double picks of weftthreads coming from one source and inserted from one edge into one ofthe sheds and interlaced with the warp threads of that shed, alternatewith double picks of weft threads coming from another source andinserted from the other edge.

The fragmentary plan view shown'in- Fig; 6 is to illustrate theappearance and-the'arrangement of the threads of a portion of a tubularfabric produced by the loom at the right side: in Figs. 1 and 2, as itwould appear if flattened out with the right hand shuttle thread at thecenter. In this view, the vertical threads are warp threads with theexception of the central thread 88 laid by the right hand shuttle. Tpthe right are the warp threads All and 42 which formed the lower shed inFig. 9-. The vertical threads to the left of 88 are those that formedthe upper shed. The threads 29L that lie beneath" the threads 4! andover the threads39 are the double picks carried into the upper shed fromthe left by the left needle. The threads 29L on the right that liebeneath the threads Mland above the threads A2, are thedouble. pickscarried into the lower shed from the left by the left needle. In eachcase, the shuttle thread 88 These links are actuated by 6. passedthroughthebightrof the pick, alternately: from above and from below.

The threads 29R on the left lie beneath 39 and over4l, while to theright,.they lien-laeneath. 42 and above 40, butthis is because theportion of the fabric to the right. of the thread. 88 hasbeen turnedupside downfromthe position in which it was woven, in. the lower shed.These threads 29R were inserted by the right hand needle and theshuttlethread that engaged them. does not appear in this. view becauseit lies: on the other side of the tubular fabric.

It will be noted that. the relative upper and lower positions of thetwo.groups of warp threads in each of the sheds will always be the sameforeach travel of the needle from agiven sidethrough that shed. A shift inpositionof. the two groups in a shed is followed by the passage of theother needle from the other side. When a needle on either side iswithdrawn from one shed and is then raised or lowered to apositionopposite the other shed, and then enters the other shed, the thread.carried by that needle moves across the same outermost warp threads,

regardless of whether its movement was up or down. Thus, as" seen inFig. 6, the threads 29R always lie outside-threads 40 and 4|.

Thisarra'n'gement of the loom with the lifting and lowering of theneedles on opposite sides of thewarp caused by the action of the cams 38produces a tubular fabric, the two sheds being connected at their edgeson each side not only by the threads 29R and 29L that are carried acrosstheouter weft threads from one shed to I the other'at each travel of theneedles, but also by the shuttle threads 88 and 89 passing through: thesuccessive loops at the end of each needle as it emerges beyond the sideedge of a shed and swings forward to the position of Fig. 4.

If the cams 33 were disconnected from. the. shaft I so they would notrotate, or if they were slid. sidewise on the shaft to remove the.rollers from the cam grooves, or'if the rods 36 were disconnected fromthe levers 35 or 31, or therods 32 released from their pivotalconnection with the ears 3| of the plates l9, there would beno shiftingof the vertical positions of either needle 23 from a fixed positionopposite either shed. With a corresponding release of the shuttle barsand a proper adjustment of the shuttle operators, each needle wouldoperate with a single shed only to Weave a flat fabric shown in Fig. 5.

In the tape or strap of this figure, the thread 89 at the left is thethread from the left hand shuttle, and the horizontal. threadsZSR- arethose inserted by the. right hand'needle. The selvage at the left isformed by the shuttle thread 39 engaging the bights of the loops of thedouble picks of ZSR'ine serted by the right hand needle and interlacedwith the Warp threads at and 33. The selvage at the right is formed bythe threads 29R passing over and. under the outermost warp thread 6|.

The shuttle threadsfifi or 89'. leave the side of the shuttle adjacentto the fabric being woven. On the opposite side, the flange of each ofthe shuttles has a. notch Sii formed therein near the longitudinalcenter of the shuttle for engagement by a spring-pressed detent 9! whenthe shuttle has been moved either up or down to the limit of it'stravel; The guide strips 39 on the side of the shuttle bar away from thefabric are cut away at the pointsabove and below the space 48 reached bythe notch 56 and a detent St is set at 7 each of. the cut-awayplaces't'o engage the notch.

. I claim:

1. A loom comprising means for dividing a warp into four groups ofthreads, two groups being movable oppositely alternately to form oneshed, and the other two groups being movable oppositely alternately toform a second shed, the two sheds having their adjacent groups of warpthreads substantially parallel in each open position of each of thesheds, two needles, each mounted for movement transversely of its lengthand transversely of the planes of the parallel groups of warp shedsfroma position opposite one open shed to a position opposite the otheropen shed, each needle travelling alternately through each of the sheds,each through a separate shed and carrying a weft thread in a loop tobring the bight of the loop a slight distance beyond the outermostthread of the shed in which the loop is laid, and a shuttle for eachneedle movable to carry a thread through each of the loops.

2. A loom of that type in which the weft filling is drawn from yarns atopposite ides of the warp 7 fed from separate supply sources, warpthreads arranged in two separate sheds, two weft-carrying needlesmovable from opposite sides of the warp transversely of the warp, eachneedle alternating from a position opposite one open shed to a positionopposite the other shed, means for actuating the needles from oppositedirections each through a separate shed, laying double loops andbringing the bights of each of the loops a slight distance beyond theoutermost thread of the shed in which the loop is laid, a shuttle oneach side of the warp, adjacent to each shed, arranged to carry a threadthrough each loop and means for positioning the needles alternatelyopposite each of the sheds.

3. In a needle loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds, oppositelymovable needles, means effecting alternate movement of each of saidneedles singly in both of said sheds, a pair of shuttles disposed one ateach lengthwise edge of said sheds, vertical guide means for saidshuttles, a pair of actuators for each shuttle, means for operating saidshuttle actuators, and springpressed means for holding each of saidshuttles at the end of each stroke, and means holding a filler threadengaged with the needle in position to interpose a bight of the threadin the path of movement of a shuttle, whereby a thread carried bytheshuttle will be passed through the bight.

4. In a loom, means for forming two warp sheds, a pair of oppositelymovable needles for disposing filler threads in said sheds, means formoving said needles singly endwise through the warp sheds, a pair ofshuttles, one at each lengthwise edge of the sheds, means for shiftingthe thread carrying end of each needle sidewise toward its cooperatingshuttle, and means for shifting the shuttle between a needle and itsthread whereby to retain the bights of the filler threads at the edgesof the sheds.

5. A structure as in claim 4, having means for shifting each needle froma position opposite one shed to a position opposite the otheralternately between endwise movements, whereby to weave a tubularfabric.

6. A structure as in claim 4, having means for shifting each needle froma position opposite one shed to a position opposite the other,alternately, and means for moving each shuttle into position tocooperate with its needle in each of its alternate positions.

7. In a needle loom, a needle, a vertically shiftable plate formed withan elongated horizontal slot therein, stationary guide members belowsaid plate and substantially parallel therewith, a slide engaging saidguide members, a table vertically movable on the slide and having aportion engaging in the said slot whereby the table will shiftvertically with the plate, a horizontal flange carried by the plate andformed with an elongated cam slot, the needle being pivotally mounted onthe table and having a stud engaging in the cam slot whereby to swingthe needle on its pivot as it approaches the end of its forward stroke,and cam means for causing reciprocating movement of the needle and forholding it motionless at each end of its reciprocation.

8. A structure as in claim 7, in which cam means cause the plate to bealternately raised and lowered and to be held motionless in both theraised and lowered positions during the forward and backwardreciprocation of the needle.

9. In a needle loom, a vertically shiftable lift plate for the needle,means for moving the needle horizontally of the lift plate, means forvertically shifting the lift plate, and correlated means carried by thelift plate and the needle for swinging the needle horizontally near theforward end of its movement.

10. In a loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds having theiradjacent threads substantially parallel, a pair of oppositely slidableneedles movable simultaneously toward and from each. other from oppositelongitudinal edges of the warp, each in a separate shed, a verticallyslidable plate for each needle supporting it for reciprocation and meansfor causing each plate to be raised and lowered alternately and to beheld in each upper or lower position during the reciprocation of theneedle, whereby each shed receives a needle alternately first from oneedge and then from the other and whereby at each edge, the needleleaving one shed is carried across the planes of the parallel adjacentwarp threads and enters the other shed.

11. A structure as in claim 10 having means adjacent to eachlongitudinal edge of the warp to carry a thread through successivebights of the weft threads carried by the needles.

12. In a loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds having theiradjacent threads substantially parallel, reciprocating needles disposingweft threads in the sheds from opposite edges, and means at each edge ofeach of the sheds engaging weft threads entering from the opposite edge,to connect the longitudinal edges of the pairs of sheds together toweave a tubular fabric.

13. In a loom, means for forming two substantially parallel warp sheds,a shuttle support at each side of the warp sheds, each support havingguides thereon for a shuttle, each shuttle carrying a thread, a plate ateach side of the two warps, each plate supporting a needle forreciprocation thereon, each needle carrying a weft thread, means formoving each needle horizontally of its supporting plate to bring itsweft thread through a shed and adjacent to a shuttle, means to move eachshuttle longitudinally of its guides to pass the shuttle between theweft thread and the needle, each plate having means for shifting italternately between an upper and a lower position to bring each needleopposite a shed different from that of the other needle, means forholding each plate motionless during the reciprocation of the needlesand for holding each needle motionless during the passage of itsshuttle, and each shuttle support having correlated means for shiftingit alternately between upper and lower positions to bring the shuttlesinto operative position for each forward movement of the needles intothe warps.

14. A structure as in-olaim 13, having cam means for reciprocating theneedle and for holding it motionless while the shuttle is being passedbetween the weft thread and the needle.

GEORGE W. C. CHAPMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me 0!this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Earnshaw July 9, 1867 Number NumberNumber

